In Columbia, a guerilla war has been dragging on for decades. Then the deputy minister of defense thought that maybe advertising could be used to “sell” guerillas on the idea of ending the war and coming home. This CBS News story, “ Advertising to Sell Peace, Not Products ” and accompanying video interviews the man who developed and implemented the program, advertising executive Jose Miguel Sokoloff. Be sure to watch the three sample ads embedded in the article. Also, notice the references to research insights that guided their advertising. What did research tell them might appeal to the target market (guerilla fighters). How do you see [Continue Reading …]

Consumers around the world want lower prices for everything. In response to consumer wants and needs, many clothing brands and clothing retailers manufacture garments in low labor cost countries like Bangladesh. This article in Bloomberg Businessweek, “ Clothing Keeps Getting Cheaper, and Factory Workers Are Paying the Price, ” (October 27, 2016) describes how keeping costs low makes it difficult for factories to meet employee safety requirements. After reading the article, do you feel unsafe working environments are just part of the cost of doing business? Should importing countries like the United States regulate safety in other countries? Should clothing brands demand safer workplaces? Even if it means their costs will [Continue Reading …]

I have a soft spot in my heart for Fargreen. The startup that emerged from the Colorado State University Global Social and Sustainable Enterprise MBA program (full disclosure, Colorado State is my employer and I served for many years on the advisory board for this program). I also know Fargreen’s founder, Trang Tran. She developed a great idea to help Vietnamese farmers while also lowering carbon emissions. What is not to like? After winning several business plan competitions, Trang is now moving her business forward. This brandchannel article “ Yale on Purpose-Driven Startups: Fargreen — Going Far By Going Green ” (May 2, 2016) is one in a series with Yale MBA students. Read the article about Fargreen. Explain how Fargreen ties [Continue Reading …]

A research study at the Universität Bonn (Germany) found that consumers are willing to pay more for products that include the Fair Trade logo (see image of logo on left). The logo can be found on a range of products including bananas, coffee, chocolate, and wine. TheUniversität Bonn study found consumers were willing to pay 30% more when the product carried the Fair Trade logo. In addition, they thought Fair Trade branded products tasted better. Another part of the study asked consumers to sample two pieces of chocolate and determine which tasted better. While the chocolates were identical, one included [Continue Reading …]

The website brandchannel has launched a series of short case study articles. A team of Yale MBA students evaluate a purpose-driven startup and offer some marketing strategy recommendations. We used a different case from this series in chapter 1. In this case (see “ Hungry Harvest – No Food Waste, No Hunger , brandchannel, April 25, 2016), Hungry Harvest tries to tackle two seemingly dichotomous problems – food waste and hunger. It tries to put some of the 40% of produced grown in the U.S. that goes to waste with into the mouths of 50 million poor Americans who don’t get enough food. From the Hungry Harvest case, give [Continue Reading …]

The website brandchannel has launched a series of short case study articles. A team of Yale MBA students evaluate a purpose-driven startup and offer some marketing strategy recommendations. In “ Hugo & Hoby – Quality, Sustainably Sourced Furniture, ” (April 27, 2016) you learn about a startup furniture maker that needs to move from making sustainably sourced furniture for friends and family to a wider market. Read this article and review the recommendations made by the team of Yale MBA students. What concepts from chapter 1 do you see demonstrated in this case study? Can you think of any other ideas for improving Hugo & Hoby’s [Continue Reading …]

We have all enjoyed the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge over the last few weeks — with their attention on social media, many of our students have seen more buckets dumped than us. But what lessons we can take away from this viral smash hit? This article in AdAge begins to answer the question, “ What [they think] Marketers Can Learn From the Ice Bucket Challenge ?” (August 20, 2014). The article also offers some background and history of the Ice Bucket Challenge. One of the earliest video launching the phenomenon is shown below (see article for more details). While the Ice Bucket Challenge has been wildly successful in helping ALS raise awareness and money — it [Continue Reading …]

Dove has been running its Campaign for Real Beauty since 2004. A major global study it found that only 2% of women around the world describe themselves as “beautiful.” With women as its prime target market, Dove decided to address the issue head on. The campaign’s Evolution and Onslaught videos went viral as they pointed out the challenges for girls and young women growing up in a world that may be overly focused on an unrealistic standard of “beauty.” The latest video, “Dove Real Beauty Sketches” (shown below), has just been released. Read more about the campaig here and for a contrarian view click here ). What do you think? Is our sense of beauty warped? [Continue Reading …]